CRIME & SAFETY

Cottonwood police officer Roger Scarim is retiring after serving 24 years with the Cottonwood Police Department. Scarim grew up in Tacoma, Wash., and later spent 12 years in the U.S. Army. While he was stationed at Fort Rucker in Alabama, he met a local officer and ended up becoming a police reservist while still in the Army. He enjoyed it so much that he decided to become a cop full-time.

U.S. Forest Service crews are monitoring a quarter-acre fire located in the Secret Mountain Wilderness of the Coconino National Forest’s Red Rock Ranger District. The Miller Fire, which was confirmed at 10:30 a.m. on Monday, May 22, is smoldering at a low intensity in heavy dead and down fuels, and is located about 4.5 miles west of Slide Rock State Park GPS coordinates: 34°57’21.2″N 111°50’05.6″W.

The City of Cottonwood announced this week that Police Chief Steve Gesell has been placed on non-disciplinary administrative leave as “internal matters are being addressed.”. In a press release issued the leave took effect last Thursday, May 11 and read, “Gesell was placed on a non-disciplinary administrative leave while...